statement of publication Jessica take notice that this regular agenda meeting of the mayor and burough Council being held on this 12th day of February 2024 has been posted and advertised in accordance with the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 roll call council person Bala here polii yes here an NOA here Roberts here sinari zabowski here um I usually would um move the minutes yeah that's what you yeah all right so I for the minutes um mic yes I move the following minutes of the mayor and Council be approved on roll call vote subject to correction if necessary we have the January 22nd 2004 regular and agenda close sessions to approve second 2024 2024 second roll call Council persons Roberts yes Bala yes kisi yes NOA yes sinari yes zabowski okay we have a very pleasant duty tonight our Historical Society is going to be presenting proclamations and presentations Mr Chino sorry to block you guys you can watch when you get home okay uh Frank toino at 32 Canal Street or toown thank you for putting us on your agenda today definitely appreciate it uh we hope you like our presentation I hope you have a open mind and an open heart so with with that I also we recently we celebrated our 50th Anniversary as a as a historical society and I want to thank the mayor and Council we're presented with this Proclamation uh land marking our 50 years as a as a museum it took a long time but all the hard work it paid off and now we have something to be proud of so 50 years and uh we thank you for this it'll be hanging next to our 25th anniversary and hope we get us 75th okay uh okay with that can't he my own handwriting like to uh present Heather py our corresponding secretary to give a little review of why we're here I'm a little shorter than he is uh good evening thank you again for having us um so my main purpose here is just to kind of give some of the history about the Old Town Hall uh slir Firehouse in sville um back in 1876 when the township of cille was established our governing body faced the challenge of finding suitable venues for meetings they resorted to conducting their Affairs in local hotels taverns businesses and even private homes as our Township grew it became evident that we needed a dedicated space to serve the needs of our community however it wasn't until April 1909 that the township committee decided to build a proper township hall EA Fisher uh name you you should all recognize right A Generous member of the community at the time offered a 50 by 100 lot for the construction of the township hall to ensure the architectural Integrity of the structure the committee listed the services of GK parcel from New Brunswick as the architect however construction faced share Fair difficulties and work came to a Hal in 1910 when the initial Mason encountered Financial issues SE and fiser a local business stepped in and provided bricks and supplies at Cost thankfully new Contra uh contractors were selected and the construction resumed over the years the building served multiple functions it was a venue for municipal meetings such as what we're doing here today um it housed government offices served as a police station a jail and even a firehouse in 1913 due to overcrowding in school number two the meeting room was temporarily repurposed as a classroom and the fire and Escape was installed to ensure safety in 1941 the burough Council decided to construct a new municipal building the Old Town Hall's role began to transition on October 21st 1942 the council moved to the new location marking the end of an error at this point sville engine company one took over as the sole occupants of the building until they moved to the MacArthur site in 1971 the building continued to serve the community in various ways it became a place for organization such as the Civil Air Patrol further solidifying its importance as a gathering point for our burrow that concludes the history and now I'm G to kick it over to Frank again so he can introduce the next person thank you heather you mentioned uh civil Ro Patrol and police but here's a couple things I found in carer's books in the museum it was a I'm going to repeat a few but council chambers burough Clerk uh tax collector Treasurer water department Sewer Department sanitation Police Department jail uh superintendent of streets Board of Health burrow engineer you would have loved it over there burrow recorder desk clerk and actually there was an overseer of the poor that was in that building so there's a lot of history and a lot of names and a lot of transactions took place it's a very historic place and now uh like to bring on Jane good evening everyone I'm Jane trino thank you for having us um I'd like to point out that this is the third time I've been up here to talk about the firehouse so if I repeat myself just bear with me the seral historical society is asking for two things tonight we're asking for the council to recognize to building as a local Historic Landmark for the past several years going back before covid um the society has been trying to get it recognized as an historic site and we believe that having a local recognition will help us in getting State recognition and possible funding because we want to restore that building and we're hoping that you will join with us in this effort we'd also like to ask your support in our creating committee that will study opportunities and ideas to best utilize preserve and Revitalize that building um committee members would be at least the Historical Society president council members representation from the bureau representatives of the police fire departments an emergency Squad and other representatives of the seral public um and we're hoping that you'll support us in that and the committee may need to call upon both burough um professionals as well as State and possibly other historic preservation officials but I have some more exciting news as well recently the historical society was nominated for the National Trust for historic preservations truste and Meritus award for historic site preservation which is very exciting it's a big honor to us I think we should get it just because I'm able to say that whole name um but we got that mainly because of the book that came out last year give him hell servil goes to war it recognizes our preservation of the photographs that were in that book that were displayed in attorney Carter's window downtown and this book and those photographs also led to a recent donation of 300 letters written by several servicemen and women to the owner of Danny's lunchonette which was on Main Street who in an effort to keep up Spirits he wrote letters to all the servicemen and women that he had addresses for some of them wrote back we're now in possession of those letters and we are planning to share them with the public and have a large display at some point in the museum we're just working on the details now so I thank you for your time thank you J thank you guys again for the time uh uh there's a lot of history here we're hope hoping you guys can come together and u and do to town something that's close to our hearts I mean I when I was a kid I used to play in there I sit on the fire trucks yes I'm that old um my uncle worked for the road department weed to go Department were there we'd sit there ring the bell and we had a good old time so I have a lot of lot of memories in that firehouse and who knows what it could be we don't know yet we have a couple ideas but we need to uh you guys help the public the fire police EMS and just come up with a with a big plan something we probably didn't think about yet so we're just hoping you guys can see help us out right now we had some issues if we do get us a local Landmark I believe we can get some emergency funds to fix the roof we have a little leak we got some windows popped out and the D DPW guys Freddy buildings and grounds on the on the attic floor there was a hole in the window and the plywood they put the plywood over and cover so the birds don't go in there so with emergency funding we can probably you know fix some of those things that are pending that imminent danger uh preservation New Jersey was supposed to be here uh K Kelly must got caught in traffic she's all over all over the state but we were nominated last year as top 10 uh buildings to be endangered at preservation New Jersey that's a big honor also so there's that was 2023 there's 10 10 historic buildings in danger being lost and we're one to 10 and so we're we're working with that so uh you guys have anything you want me to okay okay all right thank you so much thank you Frank right do do you want to leave that that uh mural here we'll put it in the hallway for every or down on that I think we need to leave it in we can give you copies yeah yeah we have you got them framed framed Heather we can hang them on the wall we can get okay you want put them on the wall have be great pieces there so okay so in answer to your question th this governing body has 600 streets with accompanying curbs and sidewalks that that were expected to maintain replace and repair I also have a burgeoning group of young people that would like to play in in very good playing fields recreational um there are many there are things that people would like and I will have to put this in with them and then we have to prioritize because we only get in x amount of dollars uh my understanding is I think it's a million and a half to bring this to code at Le that's what the preservers jury said at least a million can't hear Frank preservation New Jersey says at least a million to get it up yeah but we're not so so it takes it you know it's in the line right yeah we understand that part but if we can get it on the list as a historic site we could work with that we don't need your check today I'll see Denise after the me I don't think Denise would give me a check yeah so but but it has to it has to go we're not going to start putting money into it till we know we can commit we're just ask has to start on um Glenn has to start to see if there are any grants it's a process Frank I understand mayor art writtenhouse treasur trustee most of the money would come from Grants preservation New Jersey has a list of different things would you bring those to Glenn and he will uh bring him to a grant wrer the roof is something that might be covered under an emergency grant that can can come so we're not looking for a million dollars today we will do our but not today we do our very best there are a lot of grants available but please don't look for any more buildings to preserve all right you you can't stop me uh we just we just need to I know I know there's a passion and and I recognize it and I appreciate it okay speed is of the essence I can't hear Frank speed is of the essence thank you may just okay thank you thank you Historical Society for the great job you do all right I'm sorry mayor and our museum is open on sun uh 1 and third Sundays 1:30 to 4 stop by and see us um that being said we we're going to need to go into executive session over litigation from for about 10 minutes I have two lawyers here and I want to go down to one lawyer so that I can pay for this building that's why we're doing it first instead of last all right go ahead where section eight of the open public meetings act chapter 231 Public Law 1975 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances and where are this public whereas this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presently ex exist now therefore it be resolved by the mayor and bur Council the of seral County of middlex state of New Jersey as follows the public portion of this meeting is hereby adjourned in order that the governing body may meet and close private session for approximately 10 minutes to discuss the following matters litigation following the conclusion of said Clos session the governing body shall reconvene the open portion of this public meeting to consider any other matters which may be properly brought before it at this time the nature and content of this discussion which occurs in closed session shall be made public at such time as the need for non-disclosure no longer exists this resolution shall take effect immediately imately a motion I make a motion second roll call Council person's Roberts yes bka yes polii yes an NOA yes sonari yes zabowski yes y tell me when you're ready make a motion to reconvene I'll take a motion to reconvene I make a motion to reconvene is there a second second all in favor I opposed okay with that uh is there any old business no new business introduction of the following ordinances ordinance number 1-24 ordinance authorizing acceptance of a deed of rightaway dedication for a portion of block 175 lot 10.01 from the place at sville LLC I'd like to make a motion to move the ordinance to be approved on first reading advertised according to law and a public hearing to be held on February 26th second roll call Council person's KUSI yes Dela yes an NOA yes Roberts yes zarski yes zabowski yes ordinance number 2-24 an ordinance fixing the salaries of certain bar officials officers and employees for the years 23 to 2027 uh councilman Bala move the audiance be approved on first reading advertised according to law and public hearing to be held on February 26 2024 second roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes NOA yes Roberts yes sonari yes zabowski ordinance number 3-24 an ordinance fixing the salaries of certain burrow officials officers and employees for the years's 2023 to 2027 councilman Bala move the ordinance be approved on first reading advertis according to and a public hearing be held on February 26 2024 second roll call Council person's Bala yes polii yes an NOA yes Roberts yes sinari yes zabowski ordinance number 4-24 calendar year 2024 ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap Bank councilman Bala will the ordance be approved on first reading advertised according to law and a public hearing be held on 226 2024 second roll call person Bala yes polii yes an NOA yes Roberts yes sari yes zabowski okay at this time I'm going to open the public portion for for comments or questions on the resolutions only are there any questions or comments on the resolutions being no questions or comments I'll entertain a motion I make a motion I'll second okay wait we got to make a motion to close and adopt and adopt resolutions and I second roll call zi yes FAL yes yes yes Robert yes yes correspondence need a motion to accept the correspondence as listed on the agenda I make a motion to accept the correspondant as listed on the agenda second second looll call council person Robert yes yes yes yes yes yes committee reports Administration and finance councilman Bala thank you mayor uh Finance is busy wrapping up the AFS from last year and getting real close to getting ready to introduce the budget probably in March other than that progress thank you planning and zoning councilman zabowski thank you mayor uh good evening everyone just very quickly we're having a weather event tomorrow whether it's rain or know uh just please be careful uh when you're going through the roads tomorrow um they're always a little icy they're always a little slippery so take please take care in that um as far as our planning boards are concerned both planning board and Zoning Board uh met for their first time after reorganization and heard their uh first applications uh the Sarah board or Sarah commission also met and they held their first reorganization meeting of the year and also heard an application not an application but a presentation for landfill 3 um no action was taken on that and there will be additional discussion moving forward on that and mayor that's my report thank you councilman Public Safety councilman an NOA thank you C mayor ultimately progress with our safety and health committee so far and looking forward to more progress thank you updates thanks Public Works councilman Kachi okay uh first off the garbage pickup for Tuesday for tomorrow being with the weather is cancelled so Tuesday's garbage will be picked up on Wednesday and Wednesday's garbage will be picked up on Thursday and it'll be posted on social media and the website okay next I have uh French Street work has uh begun on the replacement of the storm drainage system then um the men and women of Public Works have been uh very busy today uh when I visited they're working on uh their their preparation for the storm for tomorrow uh the police station is getting a new code of paint and um what else do we have and the parks department is replacing uh playground equipment at the uh Evelyn Terrace Park so uh they've been keeping busy that's all I have progress thank you councilman Recreation councilman sonari thank you mayor uh I have a lot of progress we have the 2024 schedule for all the events that are going to be going out uh throughout the course of the year uh the Parks and Recreation is going to need Camp counselors this summer so anybody's looking for a part-time job as a camp counselor we're also going to need boat ramp attendance other than that progress thank you water and SE environmental council president Roberts thank you mayor um before I get into that thank you for attending the um the promotions and the new police officer Saran it was a very nice ceremony and um congratulations to everyone who was there and because we are expecting snow um the community garden not going to have much going on with it but we have a lot of great plans in the environmental commission and I can't wait to solidify them and share them with you in the future progress okay thank you uh where Jessica number number 10 authorization for the tax collector to refund 2023 taxes and cancel all subsequently bill taxes due to 100% disabled veteran tax exemption covering 64 Scarlet Drive in the amount of $574 72 authorization to auction The Following on mun bid uh Pitney Bose relay mail folder inserter and three multifunction copers application for a person-to person transfer of liquor license 1219 33 0465 from Pua several LLC to 567 several liquor LLC located at 567 Main Street uh all reports and paperwork have been filed authorization to don't wait a minute any uh councilman Bel you okay that's admin and finance okay I'm sorry go ahead that's okay authorization to donate fire department equipment that has expired to the 911 fund authorization to award a contract to Tactical public saf for 2024 radio and pager maintenance through NJ State contract in an amount not to exceed $8,250 request to travel received from several fire department to attend the South Amboy St Patrick's Day Parade on March 17th in South Amboy and authorization for Morgan hose and chemical company and Melrose hose to attend a Hazmat on CI unseen IC cores on February 15 21st 22nd 28 29 and March 6 in Hillsboro um coin toss request received from Jersey Allstar competitive cheer team for February 24th in 25th okay uh councilman anoa any questions oh is good with it and another Public Safety contacts okay I have a question the Jersey Allstar is that a seral organization so we did look into it they are out of East Brunswick but it is a a parent of a mother who wrote the letter no I understand that are the is this a serval are are they're not they're not here in serville so the the question is I know I I mean I can say no and I would say no to this because they're not they're not seral people and they'd be soliciting at the corner of ernston in Washington for a non seral issue and having lived there for 30 7 years you don't mind you don't mind donating to your own but it gets a little irksome when when when you're not it's really there for our people is there is there anybody that sees it differently no mayor but do we have anything um I can't hear sorry I I don't disagree with you but do we have anything preventing that and have we ever done it before yeah so we have it in our ordinances to know about the ORD yeah I think have Matt look at it but I don't think anybody is going to take us to there is a resolution from 2010 about our organizations however last year I I don't know what was they did get approved last year I don't know what happened but what what the governing body I mean they're kids I don't like I don't want I don't I like to help kids but in the same token you know they should they should hold this in East Brunswick yeah I don't know how many cheerleaders are from sval that are on that team team I don't we don't know there's at least one I know the parent who wrote the letter at least one I don't know if there's res among them if there if there if there's a majority I don't have a I'm all for it but if it's not um they're a little late in filing so there are more dates in the year so I would prefer that they respond to your questions about how many of your of your Che cheerleaders are seral residents out of how many all right an email tomor and then they can pick another date another day okay are we all in agreement on that yes any disagreement okay okay uh requests received from Robert Downey general contractor to refund Road opening permit fees totaling $658 52 covering several permits authorization to award a contract to Natural Green Lawn Care for INF field Renovations through East escnj cooperative and amount not to exceed $6,650 authorization you want to ask yeah uh councilman Kachi any any objection no okay go ahead authorization to increase the following Recreation programs summer camp Burks Park resident 270 non-resident 290 5 um summer camp Burks Park before care option participant $90 youth tennis clinics uh resident $120 non-resident 145 summer stem Camp resident 165 non-resident 90 application for special events from received from the following dades Temple to conduct religious services and events on various stes on March 24th March 30th May 4th August 26th October 27th through November 2nd November 9th with alternate dates of November 10th and November 16th events will take place on their property uh Majid sadar and Community Center to hold a prayer service on April 10th and June 17th at Kennedy Park from 7:30 AM to 2m any objection any is okay next uh Glen is up Glen authorization to authorization to appoint Robert Lasco and James Satori as part-time Code Enforcement Officers effective February 16th any objection next item budget transfer resolution and authorization to refund escrow to Robert Downey general contractor in the amount of $734 and88 cents thank you okay uh Jay thank you mayor two items the well maintenance contract's been completed recommending a close out and approval of a final change order with a $35,000 reduction and second item resolution approving a change order for Elizabeth Avenue that allows us to compensate the contractor for doing additional work required by the water department but there's no change to the overall contract amount that's all I have thank you thank you um man I am gonna uh one of the things I did when when I be became mayor a little over a month ago I put together a policy uh group of people uh to help me uh create policy uh so the first topic was uh a year ago in February I think I think it's it's I don't even know what the name of the month is lbgt is it I think it's l LBGTQ month I'm not sure and and the flag was hung from the front of the building and and the push back that I heard was really from veterans because that flag was up for a month and what the veterans said to me was we get two days and we feel we've given more and and we don't think that this they had no I I didn't hear anything negative about the issue it was we we thought 30 days was far more uh for a lifestyle decision than it was for putting your life on the line so that being said I form this committee and I have my two Chiefs of Staff on it uh I have uh Reverend Malik from across the street in the Presbyterian Church I have Rosetta fiser uh I have Andrew Valentine and Mitch Cooper um and I have uh Rita and Joe uh Abado uh on it and they have come up so the the premise of this of this policy which will come to The Count Council the lawyer is tweaking it which is what lawyers do um and basic uh and basically there's a process so as as you as you're noticing in America we're celebrating everything all year long so there's a process that has to be followed there's a flag that has to be supplied but the front of the building is for our country our state and our veterans period there is another place down at the end of the parking lot with a flag pole uh Ken Kelly is one of my chief of sta he's the man that designed all the veteran monuments in front of bur Hall he he did uh the 911 Monument he's a very talented man and and contrary to what Glenn had instructed me I said Ken spend what you think is necessary to to give do do honor to the different things it's a work in progress so man I'm going to ask you in your report to go over the policy and what needs to be done to turn it into to an ordinance so that there's no guest work and it's clear it's transparent and we're everybody likes a party and we're here to have a party so that being said Matt sure mayor just very briefly that the concept is uh that you have a community flag B where if you're an organization um whatever your group may be if you want to fly a flag on the community flag pole that you can seek approval for doing that uh you submit a form you have to supply the flag you indicate what it is you're looking to do you indicate how long you're looking to have it up and there's a uniform policy so that way um it's fair to everybody and you know there's some restrictions so uh and it's a a fine area of law you know you have free speech rights so you can't you can put certain types of restrictions on not other and that's part of the problem if you don't do the policy right you don't want somebody saying well you like this group so they're up and that group you don't like um can't do that so it's open to everybody but there are some restrictions on the types of of um obiously can't be profanity on it it's certain types of topics maybe off limits overall um but we've researched it it's consistent with uh Supreme Court cases that upheld flag policies as constitutional and as well as certain limitations on the flag policies so the bur doesn't give up all control whatsoever by you know if you fly one flag for one group it's complete cart blanch but there's some Outer Limits and then within it it's fair to everybody um as the mayor mentioned because we're lawyers we can't help but TW it just a little um but quite frankly um it was a very good policy consistent with uh Supreme Court cases have ruled on things like this and um so it's an opportunity for your residents to um support what they want to support um at the time they want by the way one of the ladies sitting up here did bring up that several days ago it was National Pizza day and she felt jilted so so we'll try to accommodate her next year uh anything else I have nothing for me man okay so before I open the public portion I'm GNA have the attorney speak and and and it's not to exclude anybody but this is our town and and we need to I always say protect your town and that's what this is about so that an issue can be discussed in its proper place in its proper time in its proper form without without fear of of retaliation without lawsuits and that we follow the law that's the key thing we the law is to be followed so Matthew if you would thank you mayor just a brief comment for uh for folks who may be here to discuss uh for folks for folks who may be here looking to discuss uh the pending mosque application in front of the planning board whether you're for it or against it just a couple quick things from a process standpoint uh for those of you who may not be familiar with it um a planning this is not the planning board um so an application spending from the planning board this body as a whole has no control over the planning board what they do um so that said some of the may you know some of the members here sit on that by by law um and uh but it's a separate body however um sometimes what so one times people don't always understand that the other problem uh though just to make sure everyone's aware of is when you have a land use application whether it's in front of the planning board or the zoning board everyone has to get notice if you live in 200 feet if you ever had a notice sent your house because somebody's building something that's going front of a board you get notice the reason you get noticed is because that way everybody who's interested is aware that there's going to be a discussion at a public meeting on the topic and it's also published in the newspapers for that purpose the reason that that's critically important is that cases can be overturned when people don't have notice so as an example let's just say hypothetically you know people come up here in support of the of an application petting in front of the planning board and the planning board approves it while people who are opposed to the mosque application or any planning board application could bring it to court and say well I didn't know this application was I didn't know they were going to have a hearing on this today there was members who were sitting on that board they were influenced by what was said there and I didn't have a chance to respond conversely if um you know if the board uh turns it down because there was people who spoke opposed to it people who support the application come back and say well I I I would have been there if I had known so it's a public meeting you're not going to be cut off I am just I I know I'm the attorney and people don't always listen to the attorneys I'm just cautioning everybody uh one this board's not going to respond to any comments over an application that's pending in front of the planning board uh and as well as in litigation I would just encourage everybody please take my words for it just I you know I think everyone sees you know knows that there's you know people are here that sends a message there's not always a lot of full full room of people um I just caution you to think very very carefully about whether you want to speak on the topic and if so what it is you want to say recognizing this is not the planning board at a duy noticed hearing on an application which is pending so um with that long legal introduction uh mayor some calls for the public meeting um just so everybody knows there is a five minute limitation so you could make a comment for the record um and but at the end of the five minutes I you will be advised that your five minutes is up and and um so when you form what it is you wish to say keep that five minute rule in in mind please okay so with that I'm G to open up the public portion or questions or comments Robert Bob Duffy mayor the body that was here before who became mayor H salvator Aly [Music] to represent the Township in the show course I've been calling uh Salvatore for last week and he's not returning my phone call is she still on the case or you have a new handling which which case it's the show c order for 35 escaping operation of oh I don't know um Matt I believe he's still handling that matter he's still he's still handling litigation that he was handling hand litigation uh is it possible that Blan can give him a phone call so I can find out on be the B I was I was approved to speak with him directly by the board is he wait a minute which board is he is he with Council Council here was that I could speak to him in the beginning he said he couldn't talk to me because was this the the my predecessor yes counil yeah that's that's fine but but I could reach out to Aly and get him an update tomorrow and I'll talk to Mr Duffy yeah I Bob I have to you I I can't allow I can't set the precedent because if I allow one resident to have direct contact with a professional which the taxpayer pays for that in essence I give permission for every resident to talk directly with with professionals about the the the business of the borrow which is all billable hours that's the thing now I would ask that you give your questions to Glenn and I will try to accommodate your request but I can't allow you to to speak to a professional to incur a billing that the taxpayers pay for I can't because if I allow you I allow everyone I understand where you're coming from mayor but it's it's by granting me the council granted me to speak to him okay doesn't mean every citizen can do the same thing they have to get an approval from the council and the C the council can say no to anyone else or they could say yes it's up to the counil it's a new governing body a new mayor so this being said this being said this isn't a lifetime permission for you to incur debt on behalf of saying time permission I'm only talking to him dealing I'm a neighbor I see what's going on there and I'm been I'm been mayor I've been following this for four years going to every court date in the municipal court I wasn't allowed to go to Superior Court because it was oral arguments okay he he's not abiding by the order and it needs to be the judge in the Superior Court needs to know this so they can show them this is ongoing litigation right I can't I the only thing I can talk about is whether you have the right to talk to a professional that the borrow employs at taxpayer expense and my answer is no no I can't give any Resident the right to incur a bill on taxpayers dime I can't do that because then you I give 4 5,000 people the same right but you're not giving every 45 if I they have to ask your permission they have to ask permission to do that and what that's what I was told okay I can't give it to you I can't speak for the government body how do I find out what's going on with the litigation tell me how to do it I would go back to the board right here can't the reason you don't hear from him it's not the board it's the council he can't no the L use board get him an update Glenn Glenn will re Glenn will reach out and try to get you an update yeah it's a show cause order and the council gave me the authority to talk now we're in a new year and a new Administration I cannot grant that well every Administration I would have to get an okay from like I said it's not a life it's not a lifetime permission is that law you you can talk to me um uh Glenn will try to get an update for you and he will inform you thank you Mr Duff if you give me a call tomorrow morning if you have specific questions I'll get answers for it I just want to know where it's at if if this this litigant is breaking the law the judge needs to know that that's all I'm saying the judges in in in New Brunswick he doesn't know what's going on Bob this is ongoing litigation we can't discuss it with you individually or publicly because it'll affect the case yes you can you have to I'm wait a minute wait you're not an attorney I'm a neighbor and I'm letting you know I cannot allow an something in in litigation to be discussed in a public form so who who can discuss it with you Kurt Mick Andrew Z Zone uh Zone uh enforcer you know nobody if I can't talk who can um you're asking for something that's not practical I cannot discuss an ongoing case I'm not asking publicly I cannot allow a a resident to have access to a borrow profession Prof that where it's all billable hours when you call them you know the little clock they have on their desk that starts the timer to to to build properly that's what happens as as a resident do I pay taxes does those taxes I have 11,000 homeowners that tax you're throwing a lot of numbers out but it's not making logic I'm I'm not telling you what you want to hear and that's where I think you're getting upset I think I'm think I'm telling you what you don't want to hear thank you but the difference is uh the young lady in the back that be you good evening mayor and councel can you pull that down yeah you're very petite I'm ruthan Mahoney at tjar place in Parlin I just have two concerns I make notes I'm concerned about regarding the reversal of letting Callins on Zoom Callin how people residents could call in on Zoom oh okay I'm con my concern is I'm an aging person I don't like to drive at night and we have people who are ill elderly homebound who wish they could be here but can't get here and they are concerned they have concerns they're residents and I think rather than going taking that step backward in this modern technology age we should use what we've paid for and reinstate that ability to let them call in they'd have the same five minutes um but I think they deserve who can't be here that right they are taxpayers you understand what the purpose of this me this is for the business of the burrow now there are many ways to contact everyone sitting up here every elected official has a has a public phone number so you can call you can call an elected official you can call the staff you can email and we will respond I don't think it's as effective because the rest of the residents in the town who can be here hear all of us who speak they don't know what you've all received we don't get a copy of what everyone's received so it's not it's not as transparent as having the ability to speak my opinion my thought okay my other concern is it's on a p sort of a personal note few years ago I went to a planning board meeting in your previous administration and I feel I was disrespected by one of the gentleman on the planning board he has now been reinstated to that to a position on the planning board he told me I was wasting his time um and other things it gives me concern that and he also said that the apartments that are being built at Main Street and the Main Street Extension would not be built in my lifetime well here I am and they're being built my concern is um the transparency of this gentleman and his his ways his disrespect of a resident and he's back on the board and I think my personal um interaction with him was not good I hope other people have not had that sem interaction and with everything that needs to be side decided in this town right now gives me worry thank you all thanks for then are there any other questions or comments yes ma'am hello how are you all I hope you're all well uh Somaya sadar 147 Jackson Avenue parling New Jersey 08859 um I just wanted to support which um we couldn't we couldn't hear you oh hello I'm Somaya do you hear me better now how do you say your full name Somaya s sadar you have a very soft voice I'll try to speak a little louder I just wanted to Second about the zoom call like um before I came to the meeting today I thought it was going to only be in person and when I heard about the zoom calls they were thinking about cancelling those or not I was a little worried because I had a class in New Brunswick but my class got cancelled and thankfully I'm here but I think the zoom call allows for so much engagement in so many people's lives so maybe if we could if it was something about maybe like the cameras being off or like you don't know credentials of people people behind it maybe like we can fix something about that but the zoom calls or a different platform allow so much engagement from people that wouldn't be allowed to come here maybe they're busy at work or maybe they have school or maybe they have family at home they can't leave and still allow like everything them to know what's going on in the town so if we could just try to do something with that or like adjust it in a way to still inform residents and allow them to participate and know thank you than thank you are there any other questions or comments yes sir hi good evening my name is Joe carmes 322 ernston Road I'm really going to be quick I'm here to request an additional lawyer for the 216 ernston Road application just to help with uh overseeing everything with an expert thank you thank you yes ma'am good evening I'm Nikki voio and I just wanted I live at uh 12 up Drive parl New Jersey I wanted to Second his request to get an expert to just evaluate everything from an independent and fair point of view if somebody could put forth the motion tonight to get the ball rolling that would be greatly appreciated thank you thank you good evening I'm Kim yvar can hear you I'm sorry I'm Kim muari 15 Lewis Street I would also like to request an additional attorney to look at the plans because it seems very complicated and I just want to make sure that um us residents are getting a fair shake you know at the situation that may be just so everybody understands I I understand requesting no no I understand the nature of of the request yes but this is something the planning board has to initiate it's not something the governing body we' like to put it on record that we're asking and requesting that it would be in the best interest of the surrounding neighbors uh it will be I will relay it to the plan thank you very much thank you okay yes anyone else that being just yes yes let me ladies first my friend hi Allison Hornbeck 7 Driftwood Drive um I am here tonight to ask the council members to please uh bring a motion to approve an additional attorney who's an expert to help the planning board and the residents who feel that the building sorry I just want to make sure that we're everyone's very clear the mayor just commented I just want to make one this board does not approve any experts or hire lawyers for the planning board this is not the planning board nothing regarding this application is coming in front of this board tonight or any other night this is not the we don't if the planning board needs experts the planning board will hire whatever experts it needs um if they need to I don't that's you have a plenty board attorney you have plenty board members um I just want make it clear that this board there's no motion that will be made there's nobody they don't have the authority to do that we a separate statutory body um who hires their professionals as they deem fit so is the burough Council allowed to hire an attorney on behalf of residents uh no it's the the planning board the burough hires planard themselves the residents just like an applicant can hire whomever they want but the the buau has hired a planning board attorney the planning board attorney is the the attorney for the board um that's just like I'm the attorney for you know uh the the board here I'm not the attorney for the residents on on any issue um so the planning board hires it has its lawyer if they have special you know they can hire professionals on any application when it comes to you know they have an engineer they have a planner if there's unique issues on an application then they can hire if they need to they can hire those professionals but that board determines it that board votes on it that board determines how it's paid for um sometimes it comes out of an escrow from the applicant sometimes it comes out of the board's budget but it's so who who on the burough council is on the planning board I am as the mayor okay and and councilman zabowski is okay so next week is is the planning board is is this something that you would be willing to listen to in capacity the the the this board cannot and I'm not goingon to allow them to comment on the planning board application you need to come in front of the planning board on the application no but that's still the process this is not the board that even though that that maybe two members here and that's why I'm saying this board cannot comment on this incling even including them saying what they would or wouldn't consider they cannot talk about how they would vote on an issue in front of planning board tonight should would they be willing to ma'am they're not going to answer that question you have to come in front of the planning board to ask that question it cannot be done here okay all right so then you know next week the meeting so two other um things that I had um I have been looking for a road department um plan for to upgrade roads and and curbs and I can't find it for 2024 where on the website J would I find that mayor I think on your website under the public works department there's a list of roads that are scheduled for 2024 well 2024 they haven't decided yet they haven't adopted the capital budget for 24 so the roads that are going to be used with the funding are not decided yet last year's roads are what will be constructed this year and I believe there's a list of so the 2023 list is what I'm looking at for this year they'll be paved in 24 correct okay so whatever is approved this year now when does that happen what month of the year would that be decided for next year it's typically after your budget's adopted so it's usually summer time frame approximately is it summer okay because our our neighborhood in Oak Tre East we've been there since December of 66 has never had a road or a curb on Driftwood um never ever I've been there Liv there my whole life um there are many there are a few roads because of issues sink holes or whatever but the whole neighborhood as itself I mean the sewers are falling in the curbs are crumbled you know we get grass growing in the summer just run a more down the street that's that's why on January 1 when I gave my speech about what I hope to uh accomplish the first thing was to mitigate the traffic the second thing was in the past number of years uh Road repair Road replacement along with curbs sidewalks became more of a political checkerboard and as a result very little got done uh that is that is the second priority of my Administration is to get this done so those your top two priorities are are really what is affecting our neighborhood because of that Wawa gas station the traffic in in our neighborhood is just it's and the garbage is just it's outlandish it's disgusting it's crazy go ahead and drive through sit there for for a while and just see the the traffic and the trash cut through your your neighborhood to get to wa absolutely route n all hours of the day and night and I'm not joking two o'clock in the morning you can see Jay would you and Glenn and the police department take a look at this see if there's a way to mitigate it all right well I know where you are but I don't know the details of of your neighborhood so yeah no no it's gotten very bad and and you know the traffic and the trash and people blowing through the stop signs and trying to pull out of the neighborhood is is just awful too so our third Point really quick just Mr Mayor I just want to say that being a member of if somebody's a member of the lgbtq community it's really not a lifestyle decision just any more than being autistic would be a decision you know it it is who they are and they really don't decide so I I just I just found it a little bit disrespect was meant it it was really it was a comment from ignorance all that being I'm not familiar with it in depth um but I am familiar enough to know that every Everybody deserves each other's respect but I just want you and that's what I'm trying to accomplish it's it's not a lifestyle decision it's just how God made them okay but do you understand the veterans point of view no absolutely and I have a lot of veterans in my family no but that wasn't what it's not a it's not a decision okay thank you as I said no one had an objection they had the OB it's just the the the freezing and that's all I'll try better thank you thank you uh are other questions or comments that young fell in the back had a question my friend good evening mayor councilman Council women uh my name is Sayad Ali from 44 K Street paron um I just have um one quick uh question perhaps for the public works you know the road um from bording town uh by the quick check gas station that road was closed for almost a month for whatever work they were doing and I normally take it because I take my kids from here to South River so instead of going through the you know High School Middle School traffic I cut through there it was a whole month they closed it for whatever they did now they're open but the road is still bumpy I don't know if that warehouse that built there was supposed to repave the road but they didn't do a good job so I don't know if they're going to close again for another month it's just a so inconvenience not for just just for me but I'm worried about those residents who live there actually they probably have difficulty we have an expert the residents referring to Min Avenue which was was closed they had to replace all the utility lines underneath the railroad bridge that work was done they put the base course of Paving down not the top course because in the winter it's not the appropriate time to put the final Paving so approxim another month when the weather's warmer they're going to repave that portion of the roadway that'll address your concern hope they could do it in a day or two because they close it for only be a couple days correct yes right all right and and I just wanted to appreciate your leadership for acknowledging the uh the Muslim um Heritage Month uh last month I feel the sense of you know uh ownership uh after you became uh the mayor I feel like we're part of the the community how long have you lived in town about 10 years uh but I have not been involved in in the local uh politics up until four five years uh from you know from from now so thank you so much for your leadership continue doing live in America thank you all thank you thank you are there other questions yes sir my name is GB Sayad three Sophie Street parland um I think the problem you probably are aware of it that I have launched I have uh um find filed a complaint with the electrical company uh to fix the light bulbs in August so that did not in a street light a street light yes I fix my own lights on my home lights but a street light um August when July actually I have complaint it went by nothing happened August came by nothing happened but today was a big ceremony uh but that ceremony they came and fixed the light but we had to pay the price because just this morning my son's car was broken into they cut the pipe and took the C converter right right so that's a that's something and there is a Deborah there's a one street light off then there's a waron street there's a two uh poll are also so I think we do go to the site seral site uh website where you suggest to go and file uh the complaint with the company which we do but they don't listen to the citizens so I think there has to be something done from the city uh to enforce the as a uh whatever legal means you need to follow through so that's something and I appreciate that uh it was taken care of it I brought in your attention and thank you for taking care of that toll number 658 is your campaign slogan in your next election uh we may have some more good more more news that you'll find pleasing uh by way of update this came up at the last uh meeting the mayor and counsel um you know has asked my office to uh pursue more aggressive legal uh responses to to the company to get that those things fixed uh we've done two things so um there's a process of filing complaint with the Board of Public Utilities um that you know anybody can do you may have done the same thing there's two parts of it it's an informal and a formal uh We've started the process putting together petition on the informal which is a just a they like that when they can um so we we're following kind of the preferences the other thing that we've done is I reached out to some contacts that I had in in U with the company and um uh luckily when I told them what town I kid you not the person I spoke to said wait that that's Kennedy Kennedy's back there and I said I said yes and uh and the person I knew was not the person for this region but uh told me that if it was uh for Kennedy then he would help get it moving um and promised me that there'd be more teams out there so um we are Contin to follow up with them so hopefully uh you know it's not my threats of legal action but the mayor's reputation that may help get this done but we'll play both sides and if uh for push and po good cop bad cop so the two other things is I would also Echo the two young ladies who have brought in your attention the zoom implementation we had and it was uh terminated for whatever reasons um to to participate interactively and it's pretty actually very useful and you have full control over it because when we want to participate participate in the meeting through the zoom you have full control you allow the audible uh that how who can you control basically the all the audibles so I would suggest or request rather to revert that and place it back again and again the the third thing is that we want to thank you for uh recognizing Muslim Community and our our participation in town and uh we do participate in meetings we have other activities going on uh in town so thank you for your acclamation for Muslims thank you are there any other questions or comments well just want to say welcome back thank you and um can you pull the mic down a little bit you're also ptin okay not really but I'll take it um I would like to zoom too because if you had the zoom my daughter could be speaking right now and um this is about her thank you I need your name and address for my name is Barbara sari and I live on Sider Drive in parland I read to your daughter in grammar school my daughter had lunch with you when she was in fourth grade and it was a great day for her she still talks about it was a younger man she's 30 now so but anyway I don't know how five minutes is going to do it but um I'm ask I'm coming here to ask for help maybe you could help us we need to get out of where we live my daughter familiar with you yeah we sent you a letter and um the problem with the whole thing is this has been going on for years and now they put it somewhere else and said there was no mold and she got worse and it's to the point already where so many things can be happening to that already aren't happening to her she can't live her life if she's not added there okay so we have somebody that's going to come remediate but it's like four Apartments downstairs and four upstairs so it's like having a big home and one room is getting remediated there's mold in the whole building we can't wait any longer she has to get out of there the doctor say she will not get better if she's not living in a mold free environment it's Barbara this is now my my staff has has worked with you for they're very Pati and they they work with you the Housing Authority worked with you what what you're asking for is beyond my power to to give to you but what what I can do is we can we can write to a federal level because you live in HUD housing right all right so we can write to our congressman and our state senator and explain your plight and ask for their intercession all right but what you ask for is beyond my power to to give to you if it was I would gladly help you but you you are in a program that has defined rules and you have and they require everyone in that program to work within those confined rules so I will uh have a letter composed and sent to uh Congressman cologne okay and and to our state senator Booker I had been in contact with him when they were having us move to the other apartment because the last one we had to get environmentalist cuz she was already sick and there was a leak for years and years and years so it finally did get remediated by us which they didn't pay for for the environmentalist cuz I got her on my own which I had no choice my daughter has mold in her body I have the reports for that I have the whole report of what they just did now what they did 4 hours he was there they did an a test November 10th after me screaming CU when they put us there this apartment we knew that there was mold there cuz she got worse they kept ignoring it they didn't want to hear it finally they sent somebody to do an air test on November 10 oh have our have our have our um Cod inspectors gone to your apartment I don't remember them going all right so but we will have our code inspectors go to your the fact of the matter is I already had somebody they're going to remediate I have a very very lengthy report of what's going on there but we have to get out of there this is this is really a life thing she has to get out of that build we have to get outed there they've lied to us they put us here because that we had a downsize we fought and fought that's when I got in touch with uh Frank Pal's office when we were in the other place because we didn't want to go there because this one was finally remediated oh they did the test we f as much as we could and then they said either we go there or we get evicted there's no mold there they did testing blah which their testing is is nothing when he came on November 10th to do the air test nobody knows where the results of that test even are he did my apartment and the one next to it but December 4th I asked the same environmentalist to come back and they did a 4our thing and that's when they had the found that the um the the stat aotus the toxic black mold there's so much of it in there and the um penicillin aspergillis now these are things that could cause cancer cuz my daughter already has a a no good immune system she had lime and chronic illness es and then from all the mold for so many years there and now this mold seems to be even worse so if you can do something to try to get us let me cover let me cover everything because there's limitations on what on what we're allowed to do so I I will we will write and contact the local Congressman congressman palone and our state senator Booker and we will uh go over uh your issues with Lake View Apartments I will have our code inspectors come to your apartment uh you're you're going to need to give do you have the address uh Nico we have your address and your phone number so we'll set it up and we'll and we'll get to work on it right away but they need to check the whole building the other apartments they have them all too not just we're going to deal with yours first but mine is already going to be remediated I'm concerned about even though my apartment's going to be remediated she can't stay there because of all the mold in the other the building yes we're we're going to ask the C the the congressman and the senator uh their staff it's always the staff that takes care of everything I have all the papers here any reports you want of her health when our code inspectors come to you they will go over it with you and and we will ask for them to intercede and to help you you're an original tenant if if I understood correctly well not pretty original not right from the beginning but 1980 no I uh 1987 yeah okay December of 1987 so but she's suffering and I'm worried about her because she got so much worse has she applied for her own apartment no we we can't live there first of all they can't like I said they can't be trusted this appointment seems worse than the last my understanding dear is you don't have a lot of options because you're you can apply but it there's there's more people applying than there are apartments and that's what you're up do with her health I understand that this is the thing this is a but if we have no place if there's no place to put her so let us work let let us work find some the putter they're placing so many people everywhere everybody's coming in and they're placing them they can't find a place for my daughter come on we will work on it tell me where else to go tell me who else I could tell my story to because she has to find a clean mold free safe place to live and I this is why I wish there was the zoom thing right now because you could hear her and and what she goes through every day and how she suffers she's dizzy she can't she has heart palpitation she I mean everything is wrong with her hital no she's at home why don't you bring her to the hospital because they don't take care of her she has to go to doctors that insurance doesn't even cover right do you understand you seem to be shaking your head yes all right so please if anybody wants to give me a number any kind of help can I give you my number anybody that could help me in any way because this is really you tomorrow pass you're not paying attention we will come see you tomorrow and we will work on it with everything at our disposal may not meet your needs but it's everything that we have so yeah but you're going to what are you I don't know I don't know the answer let me see if this is a solution correct beg a pardon you're not going to get us out of there correct I'm not getting you out of there where am I going to put you I'm just saying so the remediation is going to be done and we're still going to have to live there with the I don't know the answer to you have already took care of the remediation they're coming to do that that's not that's not solving our problem that's not solving her problem that whole development if they did the prop protesting it would be shut down I'm telling you right now something has to be done and I need somebody to help my daughter we are starting in the morning I don't know what you're going to accomplish there's nothing that that they could do with the codes we already know what's wrong we already know what has to be done and they're already going to do it in my apartment but that's not enough that's what what I'm trying to say and we had to get the remediation people to do it because we can't trust them I don't have a solution for you so nobody could has a solution I mean for one what what is it that you want I want somebody to get my daughter a clean mold-free place to live do you have a case when you're when you're using do you have a case worker right now I've spoken to different people from H I called so many numbers and what did they say they all give me different numbers I was at the Housing Authority meeting last week it's like nothing but a runaround I'm coming to I don't know who to who to go to to help me in this but you've had issues so you're there 30 40 years um well they weren't there when I was first there she wasn't there but you're there 40 years um no well all that being said let's try to resolve this from the burrow with the burrow resources let's that's the first St be resolved this way I need to find somebody El for to be listening no you know Barbara this is why wish she could have been talking right now because you would have seen what she goes through every day this can't be this kid honestly she can't stay there and I just I don't know tell me come on it's one I don't it's my daughter from my daughter like come on it's one one person she can't live with her brothers no she's two brothers right yes two sons and a daughter right well my daughter passed away my other daughter passed away does she can she go live with her brother no okay I'm running out of options because I'm not the borrow is not in the housing business so I have to work with what's available so in other words we have to stay there tonight you do that's for sure said uh that's killing her we have to stay there har you've been there 40 years she hasn't been there 40 years been 30 and this problem uh occurred we didn't know she started having chronic illness and lime as a child and then because of the mold issue there she got worse her immune system was compromised and then finally when something was done there they sent us somewhere else saying there was no mold there and then she got worse because she's already her immune system is so compromising there's so many things already wrong with her nobody wants to listen I mean come on to place for everybody stop this we will try to help you to the best of our abilities now our abilities and your needs may not coincide but we will try to the best of our abilities it's a matter of our life I'm sorry for your troubles but this is this is what we're going to do well that's not really helping okay uh are there any other questions or comments being no other questions or comments I'll entertain a motion to close the public portion make a motion to close the public portion is there a second second all in favor I opposed thank you everyone motion to adjourn motion to adjourn all in favor second is there a second thank you all in favor I